Gang Warz

[mrjl]

As someone who came in late on the Gang Warz was it always just about the people in the feud being different races. It seems to me the obvious starting point was Crush and Vega being fired by Farooq.

[2 time pro bowler Fred Dryer]

I didn't see much WWF in '97 either, (I was a WCW fan) but I don't recall the fued being overtly about race. I always thought what you did, that the fued was based on the former alliance of the 3 leaders.

[chunkylover53]

I wouldn't consider it that racist, but more like putting a bunch of nobodies together to give them something to do.

[MolotovMocktail]

I wasn't watching WWF much either at the time, but it seems like the wrestlers themselves weren't doing much that was racist on air (no slurs, mock lynchings, etc.), but the WWF supplied the opportunity for racism from the fans, where instead of cheering for the faces and booing the heels, fans were to divide among racial lines and boo the other races.

[bob]

I remember the gang wars well.

..anyways, draw your own conclusions

youtube.com/watch?v=vEyULE1Yk40&feature=related

[hobo]

The only part that I remember being really racist was an episode where DX spraypainted some ethnic slurs on the Nation of Domination's locker room, or something like that. But they also spraypainted a Canadian flag in order to "frame" the Hart Foundation. Anyone else remember this?

[eDemento2099]

bob said:

I remember the gang wars well.

..anyways, draw your own conclusions

youtube.com/watch?v=vEyULE1Yk40&feature=related

Faarooq has one of the WORST voices I've ever heard! It sounds like he's reading from a script, and is struggling to pronounce each and every single word, but there's no language barrier holding him back!

[thesam07]

N.O.D. theme music = Awesome.

And if you disagree, you're a racist

[Voldemar H. "Brak" Guerta]

I was already a young teen by this time, but even then I didn't pick up on any racial overtones. It wasn't until later on, in retrospect, that the "It was just some 'white supremacists', 'Puerto Rican gang bangers', and black Muslim militants fighting each other" overtones hit me. Still, though, I thought it was entertaining at the time and it's pretty tame in comparison to a lot of the other examples of racism in pro wrestling.

Un-P.C.? Perhaps.
Alarmingly racist trash? Nah, not even close.

[Jay Peas 42]

Yeah, the Gang Warz as an angle was pretty dull. Racist? Okay, here's my problem with that. Most real Gangs are drawn on tribal lines in the first place. Chinese Gangs, Russian Gangs, Irish Gangs, you name it. And storylinewise, Crush getting some of his biker friends from prison, and Savio getting some of his men from Puerto Rico to fight Farooq's army is pretty sound. A Gang Gimmick for a faction angle isn't a bad idea in the first place, gangs do fight, and have a lot of reasons for fighting. One that should be used for the Untouchables (aka Deuce and Domino.) While I don't think it wasn't that bad as far as racism in wrestling goes, as an overall angle, it did suck for the amount of TV time it took up. However, it did keep about 16 people employed, and well, it was above all else, a faction angle, which I encourage.

[Mister Yummy]

So, NOD were supposed to be muslims? And they weren't all black, even after the second incarnation. Owen Hart is about as white as they come!

[silentrage]

I never watched WWF back in 1997, but I saw it when it was on WWE 24/7 recently. That angle was frickin awesome! I am a huge fan of faction feuds, and race and ethnicity has always been something that has sparked my interest since I was a kid.

jaypeas42 said:

Yeah, the Gang Warz as an angle was pretty dull. Racist? Okay, here's my problem with that. Most real Gangs are drawn on tribal lines in the first place. Chinese Gangs, Russian Gangs, Irish Gangs, you name it. And storylinewise, Crush getting some of his biker friends from prison, and Savio getting some of his men from Puerto Rico to fight Farooq's army is pretty sound. A Gang Gimmick for a faction angle isn't a bad idea in the first place, gangs do fight, and have a lot of reasons for fighting. One that should be used for the Untouchables (aka Deuce and Domino.) While I don't think it wasn't that bad as far as racism in wrestling goes, as an overall angle, it did suck for the amount of TV time it took up. However, it did keep about 16 people employed, and well, it was above all else, a faction angle, which I encourage.

Agreed, 100%!

[texaswhopper]

I miss the days of having alot of stables.


I love the old in ring stable promo.

[Aceorton]

The best was when the gangs expanded beyond the N.O.D., the Boriquas and the D.O.A. By the end of that summer, the Godwinns were involved, and L.O.D. and the Truth Commission. I remember a special Friday-edition Raw where factions just kept running out and joining a riot until someone (the bikers, I think) finally cleared the ring.

1997 really was the year of hate-feuds in the WWF. I can't remember a time since then when it felt like all the wrestlers wanted to kill each other.

[WhiteFu]

Wasn't The Truth Commission added in later on?

[Jay Peas 42]

whitey said:

Wasn't The Truth Commission added in later on?

You are correct. Everyone's favorite South African War Criminals appeared in the WWF in fall of 1997, under the Commandant (later the Jackyl). But they somehow fell into the Gang Warz angle, which had been going on.

The Nation of Domination was patterned after the Nation of Islam in the same way the Right to Censor was patterned after the PTC. No mention of Islam was ever made.

[Woooooolhouse!]

I think they need a new Middle Eastern-stereotype stable, headed by Muhammed Hussein, but they see themselves as doing the good fight. They could call themselves Jihad Under Good Samaratins, or JUGS.

Did I forget to metion there would be a large-breasted woman in a burka (and little else) as a member, too?

[Hulkshi Tanahashi]

aceorton said:

The best was when the gangs expanded beyond the N.O.D., the Boriquas and the D.O.A. By the end of that summer, the Godwinns were involved, and L.O.D. and the Truth Commission. I remember a special Friday-edition Raw where factions just kept running out and joining a riot until someone (the bikers, I think) finally cleared the ring.

1997 really was the year of hate-feuds in the WWF. I can't remember a time since then when it felt like all the wrestlers wanted to kill each other.

Don't forget the America VS Canada storyline. That happened in 1997.

[thesam07]

misteryummy said:

So, NOD were supposed to be muslims? And they weren't all black, even after the second incarnation. Owen Hart is about as white as they come!

But "Enough Was Enough, It Was Time For A Change."

[eDemento2099]

hulk6785 said:

aceorton said:

The best was when the gangs expanded beyond the N.O.D., the Boriquas and the D.O.A. By the end of that summer, the Godwinns were involved, and L.O.D. and the Truth Commission. I remember a special Friday-edition Raw where factions just kept running out and joining a riot until someone (the bikers, I think) finally cleared the ring.

1997 really was the year of hate-feuds in the WWF. I can't remember a time since then when it felt like all the wrestlers wanted to kill each other.

Don't forget the America VS Canada storyline. That happened in 1997.

We're talking about the genesis of that feud over @ officialfan.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=wrestling&action=display&thread=1196403620